November News

What a wonderful Turkey Day! We had the pleasure of celebrating with both of our families on the big day, and it was well worth the busy schedule and tired eyes once it was over. The only downside was that Uncle Mike, Aunt Lindsay and Marek were not in town to share the day, but we look forward to sharing some time with them after Christmas!! There is nothing better than being surrounded by family and friends that you love...This time of year proves that!

Here are some pix from the big day as well as other misc. Anna pictures...

Fun at the Penz's

The Bellus Clan's Thanksgiving





Did her daddy or big sis teach her that?!

Smiles all around!

Sweet Potatoes are YUMMY! I am still getting a hang of the whole spoon thing...

snooze city

Anna's new trick...Can you do this? would you want to? Ewwwww....

I look good in hats!

Look at me...standing on my own!!

Scholarship Update...BUMMER!

I just chatted with my principal about the idea for my $40. He was very excited and we both thought the more we could get the kids involved the better. It is very important to me that my students realize how important life-long education can be...even if that means starting that process by hooking them in with a basket full of goodies. All was well...that is until he remembered that we probably can't do a school wide raffle. Apparently there is some gambling rule and raffles fall under it as a no-no. BUMMER! I could still do a raffle with adults in the building, my friends/family outside of the building, maybe even my church...but I wouldn't get the kid buy in which is what I was really hoping for. My principal is going to double check...and also check on whether or not if the parents made a "donation" we could put their names into a drawing. I'm not sure how that's different, but I'll hold onto a little hope. I would welcome any other creative ideas on how to make this work, so that I can make it a school-wide project. Argggh, of course it would've been just too easy if it had worked out without issue...

The beginnings of a plan

As you may have read in my last post...my church handed out money to each family that was in attendance a few Sundays ago. My family got an evelope with $40 in it. Our mission was to try to find some way to use the money to help our community in what they would hope to be a meaningful and sustainable way. This was about a month ago...enter life, school, baby...and as you can imagine the grand ideas that were rushing through my head when I first received the money soon got overtaken by what to make for dinner and trying to figure out the sixth grade math homework that Alix brought home.

This past week at church they read a couple of the ways people had "spent" their money. One teacher put it toward a fund for her more needy students to help them buy sketch books for their projects. Another family sent it to their local school district to help fund field trips for kids in need. It reminded me that not only had I not followed up with my plan, but honestly I didn't even remember where I had put the money. I decided that if I verbalized my plan in a public forum (like here!) I would be forced to follow through...so here I go...my plan...

I began by thinking about what was most important to me, and the rest of my family. Of course the first thing I thought of was education. I am a firm believer in life-long education. And yet, when I ask my students how many are thinking about college I at most get a hand or two. Almost all of my students would be the first in their family to go to college, or for that matter to undertake any educational pursuit past high school, so there is no example set for them. As a matter of fact one of the biggest challenges I face is the fact that education is not a priority for a lot of my families. Many have probably had bad experiences with education, or their lives are in such turmoil, that they come to parenthood without knowledge of how to help their students with academics, or the willingness to do so. So...I have always been impressed when I run across parents who are going to school at night and speak of the example they hope they are setting for their students. I hear parents mention that they hope their fourth graders watch them do homework, go to class, and strive for success...all in hopes of creating a better future for their families. They hope the example they are setting is a powerful one for their students...and I'm sure it is! I also imagine how hard it must be for them...many of extremely limited budgets...to find the funding to make continued education on any level a real possibility. I want to support this example. I think it is a powerful gift to their children, and will be one step toward their student wanting to follow the same path of making education a priority in their life. OK, now for serious, I am ready to share my plan...

I want to take the $40 and buy gifts for a gift basket--perhaps a Blockbuster card, some candy, sodas, maybe a board game. How will that help you ask? Good question. I hope to sell raffle tickets ($1 each) for a drawing for this basket. I have hopes that if every family in my school bought even one ticket we would raise several hundred dollars for a scholarship fund. The money we made would go to a parent of one of our school's students to help support their ongoing education. Heck, what if my church let me sell tickets? What if I could get my sister's school to sell tickets? What if friends and family members jumped on board and bought tickets? Together we could turn $40 in hundreds...but more importantly we could impact a family in a very meaningful way. Why would anyone do this for someone in a community they don't even live in? Because one day my students might be your neighbor...or pass you when walking down the street...or serve you lunch...and I can almost guarantee you that the person they will become after seeing their parents reaching for the stars and bettering themselves, is a much better person than who you might meet if they had to watch their parents live a life without meaning and hope. To make the scholarship sustainable, I will take out the first $40 and set it aside for next years basket, the rest will go directly to one of the parent applicants in our school community who requests funds for ongoing education needs.

So, what will really happen with this? I guess God only knows...only time will tell. But I can dream big...and even if I only raise $50, I know it will go toward a good cause...a cause that will pay dividends for their family for many years to come.

Now to put the plan into action...stay tuned...

A little of this, a little of that

For once I am not going to write an update about Anna or Alix. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, with the election and all. I must say that it's been a long time since I've been as moved by something as I was by this election. Honestly I usually go into election with an attitude of--heck, how bad could one person make it in 4 years? (Is Julie cringing right now?!) Sure, I always wanted "my guy" to win, but I never felt despaired if they didn't. This time was different though. I felt this election deep in my soul. It wasn't because of the tough economic times, or the fight to keep our rights, or even the war. It was about my need to feel proud of my country...and the lack of that feeling in my life right now. I wanted to be proud to be an American...not because we're the biggest or the strongest, but because we are a land of hope for people. I knew that Barack offered that hope. I hate to even use the word, "hope", since that was his buzz phrase and has been so overused...but I can think of no word that describes it better... what I felt was indeed "hope". I saw this hope when people of all races, economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and religions joined together in very grass root ways to support the candidate. I felt that hope when I watched the masses and masses of people waiting in line for hours to hear a man they couldn't even see (because they were at the back of the crowd) speak. I felt that hope when we moved beyond race to nominate him as our democratic choice despite concerns that the race hurdle might be too tall. I felt that hope when I heard my students talk about politics like they actually cared. I felt that hope when I read that one of my friends children looked at Obama and said mommy look, he's my color. I felt that hope when I began to look at Barack and not even notice that he was black anymore...all I saw was the future of our country and the promise that it held. I only hope that everyone else who felt this hope doesn't let it dwindle in the aftermath of the election, but instead takes to heart what they can do to make our country a place that is worth being hopeful about...not just these next four years, but for a lifetime.

Speaking of what we can do to make the hope survive...Our church gave out money to it's congregation about a month ago. Our family took an envelope out of the offering that had $40 in it. We were asked to use the money in a way that would allow it to give something back to the community in a meaningful and hopefully sustaining way. I had big plans for our $40, but then I let the ball drop. I think it is time again to get the ball rolling. I will post more about my plans soon. Please check back and offer any input/ideas that you might have.

OK then...

Apparently at least 3 people read my blog...life is good!!

I must post my thoughts on the new president elect, but my students just walked through the doors. I'm not sure I can wrap my head around it right now, so I'll let it sink in and get back to it in a little while. For now I'll just leave it at...Wow and Yea!!!!!!

Does anyone read this?

I wonder if I'm wasting my time or if anyone really reads my nonsense...did you know you can hit the comment button below each post and post a comment? You are welcome to do that at any time...

BOO!

Halloween is about my least favorite holiday (right after St. Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve), so it came and went without much fanfare from me. It was however Anna's first Halloween so we dressed her up as good parents do--she was a butterfly? a bug? some such thing with antennaes and wings. It was a gift when she was first born and fit the purpose, so we just went with it. She sure looked cute whatever she was. Alix went as the devil (no costume required...but we bought one anyway ;) She went trick-or-treating with her good friend Anna (thankfully!!) Then they came back, ate lots of candy, watched some movies, and Anna slept over. Steve and I drank wine and passed out candy to the neighbor kids (for a neighborhood with lots of kids we sure don't get many! maybe it's all the steps?!) I do enjoy seeing all the little ones dressed up (so proud that they get to be batman or a princess for the night) and too shy to say "trick-or-treat" as they knock on the door. All in all, not a bad Halloween.